If I can't save the world, I'll at least save you
by Blade McTucker
Summary: Tony and Steve care about each other more than friends but, in times like this, they can't deal with what that entails. There's a new villian trying to destroy Earth so their full attention is needed but they can't deal with this tension and work efficently. They're both trapped and haunted in their own way. While trying to save the world, they'll try to save each other.
1. Even Heroes need a break

The great Tony Stark was currently limping his way to the showers at SHIELD headquarters. The suit had protected him enough but the impact from a Hulk would damage just about anyone no matter what they were wearing. He sighed frustrated at having to actually work the shower; he was so used to just stepping in and everything working for him. Yup, he was definitely a spoiled brat but did he care? Not one bit, he was _Tony Stark,_ he had ever right to be pampered. He knew that once he got home he wasn't going to do any actual work until he felt like it, which would cause a huge piss match between him and Pepper, which is just what he needed. The genius thumped his head against the wall gently, sighing in frustration. He just saved the world but he knew he wasn't going to get a break, he was lucky he was even being allowed to shower.

After scrubbing all the grime and sweat off he just stood there in the warm water, contemplating the days events. Thor was currently arranging things with Loki and the Tesseract, Banner was packing his things and getting ready to move in with Tony…and Steve, Tony had to slap himself for the way he thought about that man. Steve, Captain America, the man his father always went on about was obsessed with finding. Hearing all the things about the Captain was enough to make him idolize him as a young child but he never realized what his father's deal was until he actually met him.

He was a good man; no…he was a saint. He was someone the cruel world did not deserve, someone Tony didn't deserve.

Tony glared at the wall, mentally screaming at himself. Why was he thinking like that? He and Steve were strictly co-workers, sort of. If you can consider both being an Avenger being co-workers then yes. Back to his original train of thought, Steve's face was the first he saw after he was quickly awoken by the Hulk. Those baby blues had looked so worried, so sad. It had shocked him and it was that look and the closeness that made him ask if anyone had kissed him. He honestly wouldn't have minded if the captain had. Tony shook his head and turned the water off, shaking his hair out he wrapped a towel around his waist and walked back into his little room. His clothes that he'd been wearing under his suit were washed and sitting folded on the most uncomfortable cot in the world. He dried off and began dressing himself when there was a slight knock on the door and it slid open.

Standing there in the door was the man he was trying to keep off his mind. Steve Rogers appeared to be freshly cleaned up as well and was looking quite nice in a flannel button up shirt and blue jeans.

"Hello Captain, can I help you?" Tony pulled on his smooth playboy persona and pulled on his shirt, noticing how the super soldier gave him a once over.

"I just, I wanted to tell you that…" He was choking on his words like he did the first time he spoke with Peggy. Why was the cocky billionaire able to do this to him?

"I was really worried about you; I thought I was going to lose another great soldier again." Shit, did he word that right?

"How many times do I need to tell you we're not soldiers?" Tony sneered and stood there awkwardly in the middle of the room, starring back at Steve who looked like he was going to die of embarrassment.

Yeah, he screwed that line up. "Right…" He trailed off and stared at his feet.

"Is that all Captain? I need to go and meet up with Banner and discuss his living accommodations" He sighed maintaining his suave aloofness.

"I want to take back what I said…about you not being a real hero. I…I see now I was wrong. The way you went right for the nuke without any guidance and ignored just how risky and life threatening it was…I just…I want to say I'm proud and you proved me wrong." He looked right in Tony's eyes. Tony was having trouble keeping up the act and keeping himself off of Steve.

"Thanks Cap, I had a great role model." He pat the man on the shoulder and then swerved around him and out of the room. If he'd been there any longer he'd proclaim his desire and everything would begin to crumble. Now was not the right time to deal with things on such a deep emotional level.

* * *

Steve gaped off into the room after Tony left, did Tony mean him? No…there was no way. Maybe he could have, he was Howard's son and he must have heard stories. As far as he knew though Howard didn't care _that_ much, so the stories couldn't have been that spectacular. He shook it off and decided to put in the back of his mind, he needed to get out and see the new world before he could worry about these kinds of things.

* * *

They all stood in the park, standing around Thor and Loki. Loki was cuffed and had a muzzle of some sort on. Thor had said they were going back to Asgard so Loki could pay for his crimes and then Thor would return when he could. They all wished Thor goodbye and watched them disappear with the Tesseract. Natasha and Clint went off on their own to reminisce on old times and relax for once in their lives. Tony watched as Steve climbed onto his motor cycle and drove off. He sighed and turned around to face Bruce.

"Ready to live the live of luxury?" He sighed and headed out towards his car, signaling the doctor to follow.

"Sure, I'm apologizing in advance if the other guy breaks any valuables."

"Oh don't worry about it; you've done a pretty good job of controlling him haven't you?" Bruce shrugged.

"Not completely, but sort of." Tony forced a smile.

"Well that's a start. Don't worry about breaking things, I'm a billionaire." He laughed and got in the drivers seat. "I've programmed Jarvis to alert me when you go green so I can lock down the most important things. So go nuts whenever you want really." He sped off back towards his house. "Well, that'll go into affect once Stark tower is rebuilt. So…you know what, go nuts because I need that thing torn down so I can restart. Hulk smash to your hearts content!" He chuckled and gave his mischievous look. Bruce just smiled and shook his head. "Aren't you just happy you decided to move in with me now?"

"Well, I'm definitely not going to stay with Fury. I mean, look what it does to Natasha and Clint. No thank you…" He laughed dryly and watched out the window. "I can't believe just yesterday we saved the world." Tony wasn't sure how to react.

"It's an odd thing really, don't worry though. There's going to be a lot of controversy over whether or not we should be allowed to do so. I don't quite understand why it's a question or why people don't like it. I mean, the police obviously can't do it on their own. SHIELD is a government group, we keep them safe. I've done it tons of times, so has the Captain." Bruce nodded in agreement.

The rest of the car ride was silent as they headed back to Stark tower. Tony was trying hard once again to not think about the star spangled man with a plan and was failing miserably.

Pepper was waiting at the entrance for him and Bruce with a smile on her face.

"Mr. Banner, welcome." She greeted and shook his hand.

"Please, Bruce is just fine and it's nice to be here." He smiled and followed them inside. "How long do you think it'll take you to rebuild?" They rode the elevator to Tony's lab.

"Oh…depends, I can have a design within...two days perhaps. Demolition won't take long if you're helping out. So, two weeks tops." Tony sighed and stepped out of the elevator and towards the glass doors. He typed in a code to the panel and opened the door. "Wake up kiddies, Daddy's home." All his robotic friends greeted him hello and in a way 'sniffed' Bruce.

He smiled and laughed softly at all the robots. "They're like small children."

"Yeah, sometimes. Jarvis set Bruce Banner into the system please."

"Yes sir,"

"You can take a seat here on the spinning chair. That's my special spinning chair, feel special." He sighed. "Seriously," He added and gave Bruce that serious face he managed to pull when he was being a smartass. Bruce chuckled and sat down and watched as Tony brought up the blue print of the tower that was now standing. As he was going to start redsigning he paused, "Wait...I have an idea." He wiped it all clean. "Jarvis, get Pepper down here please."

* * *

Steve drove all around New York looking at all the new sights. His mind was able to wander and drift as he drove with the wind blowing his face. He was deep in thought as he drove past some of the places that were still the same. His mind drifted from memories to thoughts of Tony and it was rather frustrating. He did feel like his relationship with the man was sketchy, they were mostly friends but not very close. The least they could be was better friends because there was no way Steve's other day dreams would come true. Hell, Tony was with Pepper who loved and cared for him and knew him way better than Steve. He had to pull over so he didn't crash while in the midst of complicated thoughts. He looked up, and laughed quietly. Somehow he'd managed to pull over in front of a pub. He got off his bike and headed inside for a drink, he knew he couldn't get drunk so driving after this shouldn't be a problem.

He stepped inside and found a stool, he ordered himself a drink and spaced off, lost in his thoughts. He was there for a good amount of time, drinking away and losing himself in his thoughts.

He should just go to Tony; no…he needs to keep distance for a while. He's probably busy with his tower, Banner and his job in general. The avengers were set to meet up again in a month, what the hell was he supposed to do for a whole month? How was he supposed to handle a month away from his friends? He paid for his drinks and walked on out of the establishment and got back on his bike. Driving around he decided he couldn't do this on his own. Before he knew it, he was back at SHIELD.

Steve walked up and smiled for the security man. Hard to mistake who he was really. He was let in easily and headed inside to see Fury.

"Mr. Rogers, what are you doing back here?" He looked at him skeptically with his one eye.

"I don't know what to do with myself Fury. I have nothing outside of here, obviously. I probably can't live on my own because of all the technology I don't understand." Fury stood there for a moment just looking at Steve.

"Well, Captain. I think I have a place for you that you might actually enjoy. There's a place in Brooklyn that was built a few years ago upon your discovery and thawing. It's a home for World War II veterans and those who knew of you. They're all rather old but they're still kicking and there are even some other war veterans there that heard about you and just veterans in general. I'm sure they'd love to have you there to talk with the men. They will probably give you a nice room. How does that sound? I can set up something for you." Steve gaped for a moment, surprised at hearing this.

"Yes sir, that'd be great. Thank you." He smiled.

"Know this Captain; I don't normally help with the heroes so realize how much this means." He nodded.

"Yes sir, thank you." He smiled and headed back out ready for something calming to do.

* * *

Tony was standing off to the side, starring up to the top of his building. He hated the fact that he had just built it and made it spectacular for it to be destroyed in the battle and have to rebuild. He was going to make it better though, there's always room for improvement on just about everything, except for him…he was perfect. That thought made him smile triumphantly, he was just too funny to himself sometimes.

He and Bruce had had an amazing epiphany while in the midst of creating the new tower's blue print. It was a long tiring talk with Pepper but it was worth it, because in the end he had won. Tony was actually somewhat proud of himself for wanting to do this; hopefully the others liked the idea too.

Pepper had finished talking to the men in charge of the dumpsters and headed back over to him.

"I hope this isn't very messy. If things get too chaotic you know we could be neck deep,"

"I'm well aware of that and I'm always neck deep in shit. It wouldn't be the first time everyone hates me for something I do. Bruce has got this though, he's got it so deep in his head that there's no way the other guy can forget it. It'll be fine, I promise." He smiled as reassuringly as he could then jumped slightly when he heard that loud roar and the pummeling began. "I'm so happy we got everything moved. Well, why don't we go and let the big guy have some fun? A nice lunch perhaps?" Tony smiled his winning smile and headed to the garage for a car.

* * *

Steve pulled up in front the two story building. Looking it over a few times he took a deep breath, got off his bike and headed inside. There was a reception desk in the corner. The place smelt of leather and old men, but he didn't care. The young man at the desk looked up from whatever he was doing and smiled at Steve. He had shaggy dark hair that he flipped to the side and big child like green eyes. He didn't look very old, 18 at the oldest.

"Hello, can I help you?"

"Hello, I'm Steve Rogers I believe a Mr. Nick Fury called…" He smiled politely. The young man gaped for a moment and then nodded.

"Captain America, yes he did. Excuse me if I start rambling but it's not everyday one gets to interact with a real hero." Steve smiled bashfully and shook the young man's hand.

"It's quite alright,"

"So, I suppose you're curious as to what's going on." Steve nodded and followed the young man out of the lobby and the hall to the left. "We will be very happy to give you a room and care, this place was built in your honor. We would really appreciate it if you would sit in with the veterans at the daily meetings and perhaps visit each individually in their rooms."

"I would love to," He smiled genuinely. "So what's the layout of this place?" He asked as he followed the man into an elevator.

"We have elevators on each end of the building for the residents to use so they don't strain themselves too much, the staff used the stairs. Rooms and meeting rooms are on the top floor while the gym and dinning hall are on the main floor. Your room is up here with the others. I promise there's nothing too complicated in the room, most of the people here can't work today's technology either." He chuckled and smiled a childish smile which Steve couldn't help but return. The elevator dinged and opened to wider hallway with doors on either side. "You're room is all the way down here, so if you'll follow me. Mr. Fury had some things sent here for you to use just in case you didn't know." Steve shook his head and looked all around.

"You said there was a gym?"

"Yes, some of our veterans like working out and keeping in shape. Guess it was lodged into them well when they were in their prime. We have a pool, boxing ring, and little track around the gym for them to walk on. Feel free to go in and use it whenever you want." They stopped in front of the last door on the left, "Here's your room. Get comfortable and settled in, lunch is in 15 minutes. There's a bell that rings to signal meals. If you don't make it to a meal you can always go to the kitchen and ask for something. Well, nice to meet you Mr. Rogers." He reached out for a hand shake and smiled like a small child. Steve smiled back and shook his hand.

"Thank you, I never did get your name."

"Oh, it's Andrew. All of the veterans call me by my full name but I usually go by Andy." He smiled and fidgeted with the end of his shirt. Steve smiled.

"Alright, well it was nice to meet you Andrew. Thank you for showing me around. By the way, not to seem rude but how old are you?" He raised his eyebrows and watched Andrew chuckle.

"I'm 17 sir, I'm on break right now and start my senior year of high school in a little over a month. I work here on weekends and after school during the school year."

"Oh wow, how nice of you to work here."

"It's really fun and its nice to come here after dealing with all the people at school for 8 hours."

"I'm sure it is, well thank you again" He smiled warmly and went into his room, looking around. There was a full sized bed in the right corner with a night stand next it with a small lamp on it. There was a little closet over on the right side of the room and a little bathroom next to that. There were two windows that were allowing the midday light in. He sighed and flopped down onto the bed. He didn't realize how exhausted he was and how much he missed a real bed until he'd lain down. Steve sat up though, now was not the time to nap. He stood up and decided to look in the closet. There was a small duffle bag in the bottom of the closet with SHIELD stitched in white. He picked it up and lugged it to the bed, curious as to what Fury sent over.

A few plain white t-shirts, some jeans, sweat pants and sweatshirts and Captain America pajamas. He chuckled at the pajamas and put it all back into the bag. The super soldier perked up upon hearing the small chime of a bell that Andy must've been talking about. He waited for a few before heading out and going down the stairs just outside his room. Andrew was standing in the cafeteria and noticed him; he smiled at him and waved him over. He slowly walked across the room towards the small group of young staff members.

"Hello Andrew,"

"Mr. Rogers, this is Cathy, Olivia and Derek. They work here also. Olivia and Derek run the little sessions that we'd like you to attend." Steve, being the gentlemen he was, shook their hands and was polite to an extent that shocked the hell out of the young folks. "You can come eat with us for now if you like," Steve shrugged.

"Why not? I'll just go get my food and meet you in the staff lounge then?" Andrew nodded and smiled at him. "Alright then," He headed towards the line and grabbed a tray. He smiled at the women and the man serving food. It was chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes, corn, and peaches. He grabbed a milk out of the cooler and headed out of the cafeteria towards the door that had the sign Staff Lounge above it. He sat down next to Andrew and began eating his food.

"How's the food Captain?" Andrew asked teasingly taking a sip of his water. Steve nodded approvingly.

"It is actually quite good. I could get used to this." He laughed lightly and continued eating. The others chuckled as well. After a few minutes in Steve was suddenly questioned eagerly by the young people after they got the permission from him to do so. Steve felt like he was being worshipped and he honestly didn't mind it, he also enjoyed talking to them and telling his stories. They were all so eager and entertained; he couldn't help but be happy with them.

* * *

Tony drove slowly back into a parking lot near the site of Stark Tower. He and Pepper had been driving around all day, had eaten a nice quiet lunch and enjoyed some time at his beach house while Hulk had demolished the tower. There was nothing left of the great tower. It was all in the giant dumpsters that were being moved away slowly and the area around was being swept up. Bruce sat on the curb, he was sweaty and he looked exhausted. The men had given him a water bottle which he was currently sipping out of.

"Hey buddy, how was that?" Tony smiled down at the man who just glanced up at him.

"What he needed, but I'm exhausted. Please tell me we have a place to stay until the tower is finished."

"I'm Tony Stark and you're seriously asking if I have a place to say. You've got to be shitting me right now Bruce," Tony sighed in his serious manner. Bruce chuckled.

"I know, I know. I just had to ask." He sighed and heaved himself up. "Well, can we go back to that place? I could pass out standing up," Tony nodded.

"Happy has a vehicle waiting if you want to go now. I've got to finish things up here then Pepper and I will be there." Bruce nodded and pat Tony on the shoulder as he headed off to find Happy.

"After all this is cleared up give me a call. Thanks for the help," He handed him a wad of cash and clasped the man on the shoulder. Tony headed back to the limo and found Bruce passed out. He chuckled and slid in next to Pepper. "Didn't take him long to relax,"

"Well, I'm sure demolishing a whole tower wears a man out." She sighed. He nodded in agreement. "How long do you think this building could take?"

"Two weeks minimum, two and a half maximum. I would like it done by the time I see the others again so it's got to be done within in three weeks."

"So, tell me again why we're moving Stark Tower back to California?"

"It'll keep Avenger business away from it, the last thing I need is both towers destroyed. It's to protect it." He smiled.

"Well, I've got to hand it to you Tony, that's a pretty smart idea."

"It'll also keep you safe." He sighed and smiled at her. She smiled back, "Tell me I'm a genius, praise me, I do enjoy it."

"What am I going to do with Mr. Stark?" Pepper sighed and gave him that look. He grinned like a small child and relaxed back against the seat.

"Hogan! Burger first, then to the plane." While they started constructing the new tower, they were going to go back and stay at his Malibu home.

"Yes sir," Pepper shook her head and relaxed in the seat as well. At least he was consistent.

* * *

Steve slowly walked into a library looking room to see a giant circle of elderly men in the center. They all looked up at him and gazed wonderingly. He smiled and sat down next to Olivia. She was a young woman no older than 26 with short brown hair and a warm smile.

"Well, gentlemen I'm not sure if you know who this is but,"

"My starts, Captain America." A 90 year old man stood slowly on wobbly legs and walked over to Steve. He smiled and sighed, reaching out a hand to the super soldier. "I can't say how amazed I am to be seeing you again. I know you may not know me but I am one of the 107th infantry men that you saved. I still owe you so much for that." Steve held his hand tightly in his while the man gripped his as tightly as his feeble hand could.

"I am happy to have saved you; I'm surprised you're still kicking to be honest."

"You and I both Cap'n." He chuckled. "These young folks do a swell job at taking care of us." He smiled warmly at Olivia who smiled back. Steve nodded and helped back to his seat. "That right there my friends is a true gentlemen, and a true hero." Steve knew that if he was a girl he would be a blushing mess, hell he probably was when they started clapping for him. They went around to each one and they told their stories. Steve conversed with several of them and laughed about many memorable moments in the war. Then, he told his story. Not every little thing but how he went from being a small puny boy from Brooklyn to the super soldier he was. The whole room was silent as he spoke. After he finished that same veteran stood and slowly walked over to him.

"Peggy Carter had this with her for a long while before she went back over to England. She handed it off to this place, which she established. I've always been fascinated with drawing and your sketches were inspirations of mine. Don't worry, I haven't drawn anything or messed anything up. It's been preserved in a drawr." He chuckeled and handed the book over to Steve. He nearly broke down upon taking the small book. Steve opened it up just to be sure and there it was the sketch of the monkey. He trembled as he tried to keep from crying as he looked through his sketch book.

"Well everyone I think that's enough for today. Thank you Captain for sitting in with us." He nodded wordlessly and looked up at the man who gave him the book.

"Thank you, so much for this. I can't describe just how much this means to me. Thank you," He gasped and smiled, "I can't say it enough." The old man smiled and nodded and followed the others out.

Steve walked back to his room and kept himself there for the rest of the night, only leaving to have dinner. He didn't say much this time, simply listened to the young ones talk. His thoughts weren't really there anymore; he was back in the 40's reliving everything.

He went back up to his room after saying good night to the staff. He pulled on the blue pajamas with a cartoon version of him and his shield all over it.

He had no problem falling asleep that night, the bed was 100x's more comfortable than the beds at SHIELD. He slept for a good few hours before the nightmares shook him awake. Cold, dark, ice. Peggy…have to get back to Peggy. So cold, can't move. Consuming darkness, terror. Tony's limp body falling too quickly from the sky, not coming back to life. Tony's not waking up, can't lose him like Peggy.

"Tony!" Steve shot up awake and terrified in his bed; he was shaking all the way to his core. He was cold but sweaty. He grabbed his sketch book off the night stand and flipped through the pages, looking over his old drawings. He calmed himself down and sat up. The bed was horizontal to one of the windows. He scooted closer to the wall and lean against the glass. He pushed the curtains back and looked out into the night, gazing up at the moon. As he slowly began to drift off again he remembered the gym down stairs. He was sure they didn't mind him being there. Steve climbed out of bed, stripped out of the pajamas and pulled on the sweat pants and one of the t-shirts. He slowly walked out of his room and down the stairs. He walked through the cafeteria and down a hallway before coming across a glass door that led into the gym. Steve sighed as he headed over towards the boxing ring. Thank God, there was a punching bag hanging up. This wasn't the gym at SHIELD so he should probably just be a tad gentler with the punching bag. He found some tape over on top of a cubby box area. Steve worked himself to a sweat all through the night his mind lost in the dark memories.

* * *

Tony refused to go to sleep; the nightmares would just switch to the events of the battle or dreams of Steve Rogers. He couldn't handle either of those. He continued plinking away with meaningless projects and designing possible weapons and add-ons for the tower. He sighed and rolled across the room on his chair towards another desk. The video Coulson had given him to study was still there. He picked it up and pressed play, watching his hero fight and save the world back in the 40's. He sighed and paused it, just starring at the freeze frame. Tony took the video and his drink up and out onto the balcony. He leaned over the edge and continued watching the video. His Dad was justified with his obsession, even if it cost them a lot and Tony had to try so hard to compete with him to make his father proud. He looked up into the night sky and sighed, he wondered where the Captain was now, probably not sleeping he knew that for sure. He'd been asleep for 70 years, he'd slept enough. Unlike Tony, but they were now haunted by the same thing. Those horrible dark memories that they were stuck with, maybe they could bond over that. Then again Tony had a hard time bonding with people. "Doesn't play well with others," He chuckled to himself. He spent the night drinking and embedding that video into his memory while under the same moon as his hero. Sure it was cheesy but it's what kept him going ever since they released the Captain from his icy prison.

* * *

**There's the first chapter! I was trying really hard to not make it too corny. Feedback is appreciated, I promise it gets better just bare with me. **


	2. I can't wait two more weeks

**1 week later.**

Steve stood under the warm water of the shower, his head pressed against the wall and his eyes closed. He hadn't slept the whole time he was here, instead had worked himself until the sun rose. As far as he knew none of the staff knew he didn't sleep. He was worried that if they knew they'd give him sleeping medication or something. Maybe Fury told them that he didn't sleep and they knew already and just didn't want to bother him. All of those seemed possible to him. He heard the small bell chime for breakfast and finally turned the water off. Breakfast was served everyday at 8 AM, so he'd been in the shower for almost 2 hours, yup time to get out. He grabbed one of the small white towels from the hook and got out. He couldn't decide if the towel was that small or if he was just that big because it barely wrapped completely around his body. Drying off quickly he grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and got dressed.

The food here was actually really good and he enjoyed talking to the veterans. He felt more at home here than he ever had at SHIELD. He smiled at a few of the veterans who were heading to the elevator to go to eat breakfast as well.

"Good Morning Bob, how are you today?" He smiled pleasantly at the withered old man.

"Just fine, about you Captain?"

"I'm great, see you downstairs." He started to jog down the stairs.

"Race you there," The old man called down after him, he chuckled and shook his head. They were old yes, but they still acted like young men and Steve enjoyed that quality about them. He waved at several of the others and grinned at Andrew who was over there talking to his colleagues as usual.

"Good Morning Steve," Joyce, one of the ladies that served food, smiled at Steve as he got himself some food.

"Good Morning Joyce, oh man...biscuits and gravy? You are speaking my language." He chuckled along with her and filled his plate up with biscuits, gravy and hash browns. "Can I have a mug for coffee please?" He smiled warmly at Jonathan, the young man who worked in the kitchen with Joyce and Lauren. He nodded and went to the cabinet and grabbed out a small mug.

"Here you go, let me know if the gravy is any good." He grinned like a small child and Steve nodded.

"Thank you and I'm sure it's delicious." He headed over to the small table were Bob, Tim, Jacob, Buck, Charlie and James were sitting.

They were the few veterans left alive from WWII. James, Jacob and Tim had all been 16 when they'd gone into the military, Buck had been 15 and had lied about his age, Charlie had been 18, and Bob was 19 going on 20. They were all in good physical health for their age, being in the military had done them some good. Bob had been the man who gave him his sketch book, that man had a special place in his heart from that moment on. Breakfast continued on like always, laughs, smiles and cracks about being old. Steve really enjoyed it here and he'd have to remember to give Fury a huge thank you card, maybe even a hug. He'd have to think on that one.

* * *

Tony had slept for a few hours at most that week. He had kept himself busy every night either working on something or watching all the videos he could find of Captain America. He felt weird, like an obsessed fan girl which in a way he was but that was beside the point. The tower was coming along great; they were half way done and were expected to be done by the end of next week. Tony was actually very eager for the tower to be finished.

He was currently down in his lab stuffing his face with McDonald's breakfast burritos and working on a new project. Bruce was off in his own little corner doing his own science work. They'd been coexisting very well the past week.

"How are those burritos treating you?" he asked from across the room.

"Very well, are you sure you don't want anything to eat? I can send Pepper or Happy to get you something."

"I'm fine but thanks for the offer." It was silent again. This was normal; they'd chat a little bit and then go back to their own little worlds.

"Hey Bruce, I've got an idea."

"What is it Tony?"

"I think we should make them themed," It was silent for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, like…we make them themed based on the resident. Capsicle can have his old posters hanging up, Thor can…bring his special belongings from Ass-guard, and yours can be green."

"Okay, I get it." Bruce chuckled.

"It's a stupid idea, never mind." Tony sighed and went back to tinkering. After checking to see if Bruce was paying attention he opened a video of Steve fighting with his appointed team back in the 40's. He couldn't really handle this much longer. He needed a serious thing to work on in order to take his mind off of the hero.

* * *

Steve laughed at a joke one of the veterans had made as they were walking around the track. He looked over at the clock and smiled.

"I'll see you guys later, I've got to go talk to some other geezers."

"Alright thanks for the nice walk,"

"Yup anytime," He smiled and jogged over to the stairs and up the stairs. He had to at least freshen up before he went and saw Bob. After he was cleaned up he headed down three doors and knocked. "Bobby!" He chimed as he pushed the door open to find the room cleaned out. He raised an eyebrow, he was sure this was Bob's room, hell he'd been visiting it everyday at 11:00 since the first day. He slowly walked out of the room then slightly jumped when he heard a little ding and Andrew's voice came over some speaker system.

"Would everyone please come to the meeting room? Thank you." He swallowed hard and headed down the hall towards the meeting area. Olivia and Derek were standing in the center of the room smiling softly at those who filtered in.

"What's going on?" Steve whispered to them, they gave him a sympathetic look. After waiting a good 15 minutes for everyone to get there Olivia cleared her throat.

"Gentlemen, I'm afraid we have some rather upsetting news. Bob has passed on." She informed. Steve nearly collapsed; he would have if Derek hadn't been holding his arm gently. "We've called his family and they are on their way to get him. We will be having a candle light service for him tonight after dinner. We're willing to talk to anyone who needs to talk. If you don't feel like you need to talk at the moment you may head on out." Steve hesitated to leave; he didn't know what to do.

"Are you okay Steve?" Derek gently rested his hand on his shoulder. Steve shook his head, he didn't know what he was but he knew he wasn't okay. "Okay, you can sit and stay if you want. You don't have to talk if you don't want to either." Steve took the chair next to Derek and sat silently. He listened to all those who spoke sob silently and mourn their fallen soldier. Tim, Jacob, Buck, Charlie and James were all apart of the group that had stayed. After they finished and were leaving Buck came up behind Steve and pat his back.

"Anyone else care for a drink?" He asked.

"They serve that here?"

"They house old war veterans and you doubt they have alcohol. Oh son, you've got a lot to learn." The others chuckled while Steve forced a grin. They headed down to the cafeteria and gave a toast to Bob.

Steve raised his glass and sighed, "To the man who gave me back one of the most important things to me. To Bob," They all drank a few drinks and just waited for lunch to be served. Steve barely tasted the delicious food as it went into his mouth. He had only known Bob for a week but somehow it felt like he'd known him for a lifetime.

Steve locked himself up in his room from after lunch till the dinner bell, drawing a small sketch. He stuffed it in his pocket as he headed down to dinner. It was Bob's favorite dish, pepperoni pizza. Steve had to smile as he saw that. Dinner was quiet, but heading up to the meeting room was even quieter. They had cleared it out and set all the chairs in rows in front of a podium. There was a picture of Bob and a vase of flowers below it standing tall in the front with the podium. All of the Staff stood along the back of the room while all of the veterans took their seats. Steve took his seat up front next to his friends.

"Welcome everyone. It's a sad day today. We've lost a close friend. Tonight we honor our fallen comrade. Before we get to our speakers, Andrew is going to do us the favor and play for Bob." Steve had to hold his jaw as he watched the young man climb unto a stool, a nice guitar in his hands. Who would've thought the kid could play, or sing for that matter.

_He said Son,_

_Have you seen the world?_

_What would you say, _

_If I said that you could?_

_Just carry this gun_

_You'll even get paid_

_I said that sounds, pretty good. _

Andrew's voice was shaky, and Steve didn't blame him. He was already getting shook up.

_Black leather boots_

_Spit shined so bright_

_They cut off my hair, _

_But it looks_

_Alright. _

There were some chuckles after that line and Steve joined in. Andy was putting emotion into his singing and it felt more like a story than a song.

_We marched and we sang_

_We all became friends_

_As we learned, how to fight. _

The guitar playing picked up and Andrew took a deep shaky breath, hoping his voice didn't crack.

_A hero of war, _

_Yeah that's I'll be_

_And when I come home_

_They'll be damn proud of me_

_I'll carry this flag _

_To the grave if I must_

_Cause it's a flag that I love_

_And a flag that I trust,_

He broke on the last line and cursed quietly. He sniffled and continued on. Steve was biting the insides of his cheeks to keep his lip from quivering. That chorus was enough to break him.

_I kicked in the door_

_I yelled my commands_

_The children they cried, _

_But I got my man. _

_We took him away, _

_A bag over his face_

_From his family and his friends._

This was sure to be something one of the soldiers went through; maybe Bob even went through it. Steve somewhat knew that feeling, all he knew was going in and killing the bad guys and freeing the people. Something told him, he wasn't going to like the end of this story.

_They took of his clothes, _

_They pissed in his hands_

_I told them to stop, _

_But then I joined in_

_We beat him with guns _

_And batons not just once_

_But again and again_

Steve cringed and glared at the ground. He knew soldiers could be cruel to the enemy but he had no idea. He let out a little sniffle but held strong, he wasn't going to break until the end of the song. He needed to know how this ended before he gave up.

_A hero of war, _

_Yeah that's I'll be_

_And when I come home_

_They'll be damn proud of me_

_I'll carry this flag _

_To the grave if I must_

_Cause it's a flag that I love_

_And a flag that I trust  
_

it was quiet, like the others knew what was coming. Steve was on the edge, anxious to hear this.

_She walked, _

_Through bullets and haze_

_I asked her to stop_

_I begged her to stay_

_But she pressed on,_

_So I lifted my gun _

_And I fired away_

Andrew's playing was more aggressive now and you could hear it in his voice, he hated this part. Steve was sure his mouth was open and he looked ridiculous but he didn't care. This was painful to hear.

_And the shells_

_Jumped through the smoke_

_And into the sand_

_That the blood now had soaked_

_She collapsed _

_With a flag in her hand_

_A flag white as snow. _

That cold dread set in on Steve and he buried his face in his hands. Why were they doing this? Because this was the song of the soldier, this was the reality of it all. It wasn't easy to be a soldier, sometimes innocent lives were lost and sometimes it was your fault because you were just doing your duty. It was the cruel reality of being a soldier.

_A hero of war_

_Is that what they see? _

_Just metal and scars_

_So damn proud of me_

_And I brought home that flag_

_Now it gather dust_

_But it's a flag that I love_

_It's the only flag I trust. _

It slowed down, and became quieter. The emotion hung on the edge of every note that Andrew played and every word he sang.

_He said son_

_Have you seen the world? _

_What would you say,_

_If I said that you could? _

There was a silent nod as Andrew sniffled and climbed down and headed back towards the other staff members. Steve wiped his eyes and cleared his throat. Olivia nodded to him and he slowly walked up to the front.

"Well…I don't know about the rest of you but that song really got me." He saw some nod and he took a deep breath and continued. "I wasn't in the war as much as the rest of you were. For a long time I was just a poster boy and show girl." He chuckled and shook his head. "I wasn't really considered a soldier until I saved nearly 400 men from Hydra. Bob was one of those 400. Now, I didn't personally know him at that time but somehow I feel like…I did know him. Even after I saved all those men, I was doing select things in the war. None of which included what that song described but I'm sure that wasn't the case for several of you or Bob. The things soldiers live with now, after the war, are some dark things. Bob spoke to me everyday for an hour and we'd always go down to lunch together. He had seen some horrible things but he'd managed to make light of it. He thanked me everyday for saving him and I thanked him in return for giving me something so dear to me. I wasn't an actual artist but I knack for sketching. I drew this for Bob because he'd told me how much he'd loved my drawing." Steve wiped the tears running down his cheeks and walked over to the picture. He put his drawing next to the flowers and went back to the podium. "Bob, for a 92 year old man, still acted like a 22 year old." That got a few laughs. "It's a nice thing that he passed peacefully, and I'm happy I could give him the last few good days of his long life." He sniffled and smiled to the veterans. He slowly sat back down and listened to the others speak. None of the words registered though. He was too lost in thought. He wasn't sure why he was taking this so personally but he was.

* * *

Tony sighed and reclined back against a desk while he blared his ACDC. Thankfully Bruce didn't mind it and he wasn't there either. He threw the stress ball up in the air and caught it over and over again. He sat up and slid over to another computer. He couldn't stop himself, he caved.

"Jarvis, call Steve for me please. " During his time awake, they'd bought Steve a simple cell phone. It rang a few times and Tony considered hanging up but Steve answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Cap, how are you?"

"Tony?" He heard the surprise in the other mans voice.

"The one and only, you didn't answer my question though. How are you?" He started spinning around on the chair. He heard Steve sniffle and take a shuddering breath, he'd been crying.

"I'm alright,"

"You're crying. What's wrong?" Tony sat up straighter and wore a look of concern.

"Nothing, don't worry about it. I'm fine, how are you?"

"You're not fine if you're crying. Are you living on your own?"

"No, I'm at this place in Brooklyn, it's for war vets. Fury sent me here, and one of the veterans that I've gotten close to passed away today. They had a service about an hour ago and this boy who works here sang a really emotional song and I just, yeah…" He trailed off. Why was he spilling to _Tony_ of all people?

Tony was quiet, he wasn't sure what to say. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not good with comforting people." He sighed and fidgeted with the stress ball.

"It's fine. What did you want?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You must've had a reason for calling me, what's going on with you?"

"Oh nothing, I'm bored and refusing to sleep."

"Join the party," Steve muttered and rubbed his temples. Tony chuckled.

"I'm rebuilding the top half of Stark Tower. I can't wait for you guys to see it." He grinned, he was so proud of himself.

"Sounds great, let me guess, extremely technologically advance?"

"How did you know?" Tony made a dramatic gasp and then laughed with Steve. "Hey look, I cheered you up!" He laughed even more. Steven smiled down at the phone and cursed himself mentally.

"Well, I'll see you in a few weeks. Have fun building Mr. Stark."

"Night Cap'n." Steve hung up leaving Tony there in silence. "Did you get the signal from his phone Jarvis?"

"Yes sir, I'm tracking it now."

"You know me so well it scares me," He muttered and watched the computer screen.

"He's here sir." Tony scribbled down the address. He'd go visit the Captain in the morning,

"You are a dumbass Tony Stark, don't want to complicate things but yet you're going to visit him. Right, that makes so much sense. Then again you do have a knack for doing shit that's not good for you. Oh well," he muttered to himself as he slid back across the room. "Hm, something to work on…" He looked all around trying to find something to keep himself occupied. Maybe he could hack into SHIELD again…no he'd get in trouble and he didn't need them breathing down his neck. He could actually work but he didn't want to be productive. Then again, working would get Pepper off his ass about it…working it was then.

* * *

Steve leaned against the cold window and starred out into the night as tears slowly rolled down his cheeks. He wasn't sure why he was so upset, he just was. He felt like he'd lost Bucky all over again. That was his last little piece from his life before and now it was gone. All he had left was the sketch book, which he had in a death grip and pressed against his chest. He leaned over to the night stand and grabbed the pencil and opened to a new page. He slowly began to sketch and just let everything he was feeling go into the picture.

Andrew sighed and knocked lightly on Steve's door, he hadn't come down to breakfast and he'd been pretty choked up the night before.

"Steve? Are you alright?" He peaked in and saw Steve sitting there absorbed in what ever he was drawing. The super solider slowly looked up.

"Yeah, I've been better."

"You weren't at breakfast and well, you were so shook up last night I just wanted to check on you." Andrew muttered bashfully and looked down at his feet. Steve gave a half smile, the kid cared so much about him he found it adorable.

"Don't worry I'm okay." They both looked up startled when they heard Cathy over the intercom

"Steve, please come to the lobby, you have a visitor." Steve raised an eyebrow and climbed out of bed and followed Andrew down stairs to the lobby. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Tony leaning on the desk chatting kindly with Cathy.

"Tony? What the hell?" He asked as he walked over.

"Howdy ho Cap'n. I decided to pay you a visit,"

"How did you,"

"I'm Tony Stark, if I wanna find someone I can."

"Why did you find me though?" Tony was mentally screaming at himself.

"Well, you were crying on the phone I had to come and make sure my Captain was okay." Tony leaned to the side and peaked around Steve to look at Andrew.

"Who's the kid?"

"That's Andrew he works here. He's the one that sang the song." Andrew waved shyly at Tony who nodded at him. Tony then took a step back and actually looked at Steve. He chuckled.

"Oh gosh, who got you those?" He gestured to the Captain America pajama pants.

"Fury did," Steve sighed and they both shared a laugh. "For a bit of a prick he's got a sense of humor. I'll give him that," Tony nodded.

"Well, can I see what you've been up to or do you want me to leave? Cause I can go," Tony sighed and turned to walk away.

"No you can stay if you want. Not for the not of course but at least for the day." Steve sighed. Tony nodded.

"Of course, so…lead the way Rogers." It was a tense and awkward silence between them while Steve led Tony up towards where he was staying. "So what is this place?"

"If you could track me down I would have thought you'd done your research Mr. Stark," Steve smirked and glanced over his shoulder at Tony. He shrugged.

"I figured you could just tell me, plus I had some things to do for Pepper so she'd get off my ass."

"Speak of which does she know you're here?" Steve quirked an eyebrow and led Tony into his small room.

"She just knows Avengers business. Which she shouldn't even know that but still." He shrugged and sat down on the bed. "Oh my god this is comfy," He laid down and made a noise of happiness. "Oh sweet baby Jesus and the lord above it feels like it's made of clouds." Steve shook his head and laughed quietly as Tony curled up on the bed and pretended to be a sleep.

"Hey genius, billionaire, philanthropist, playboy get off my bed."

"Umm…No? Oh what's this?" Tony picked up Steve's sketch book and went to open for it to be yanked out of his hands and hidden behind Captain America's back.

"Um…that's personal." Tony stood and reached around Steve and took the book back.

"Does the star-spangled man with a plan have a diary?" Tony teased.

"No! Tony, give it back!" Steve reached for it but Tony hunched over it and tried to look at it. He was in awe at the drawings.

"Are these your drawings?" Steve almost looked shy with the way he was starring at his feet and messing with his hair.

"Yeah, they are. Can I have it back please?" Steve crossed his arms and it almost looked like he was pouting.

"Yeah, here you go sleeping beauty." Tony grinned mischievously.

"Would you quit it with the nicknames?"

"Oo, someone's moody." Tony laughed.

"The last living connection to my old life just died, excuse me for being a little emotional." Steve snapped and slammed his book down and turned away from Tony.

Tony gaped and then cleared his throat. He screwed that up royally but he wasn't here to make the Captain fall in love with him.

"Hey, look…I'm real sorry about your friend. Also, I was just being me, so an ignorant asshole. I didn't mean to upset you." He was surprised at how soft his voice was and how genuine he sounded. What was this man doing to him? Steve sighed and turned back around.

"It's fine. So, you want to see the rest of the place?"

"Sure," Tony stood and smiled like an excited little boy. Steve chuckled and headed back out into the hall. They walked down the stairs and Steve led Tony to the gym.

"This is where I've been spending my nights."

"Oo, boxing ring."

"Yeah, I can use everything in here except the pool."

"Why can't you use the pool?" Steve hesitated to answer, he was so embarrassed. Tony noticed the silence and turned to face him.

"I can't really handle being submerged in water anymore." He sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. Tony nodded in understanding.

"I get it. Don't worry Cap, I refuse to do any more campaigns on military bases. Last time I did that I was captured by terrorist and held captive for three months. I barely got out of there alive." Steve just starred at him.

"Wow,"

"Yup…you wanna box?"

"You'll get pummeled playboy." He teased. Tony took his jacket off and put it in a cubby.

"Bring it on old man," Steve shook his head and grabbed the tape. They wrapped their hands and climbed into the ring. Tony was just a little too cocky and jumpy for this. Steve shook his head and threw a good punch at Tony's side. The billionaire grunted and stumbled back a good foot. "Wow, good swing." They danced around for a bit, more like Tony dance and jumped and Steve just circled with him. Tony got three swings at most while Steve used him like a punching bag. Tony was leaning against the back of the ring panting. "Okay, I take it back. You win, you were right. Spare me," He coughed. Steve smiled proudly and climbed out of the ring.

"Need help out?" He snickered. Tony flipped him off and climbed out himself. Steve perked up at the small ball.

"What's that?" Tony asked looking up in all direction searching for the source of the sound.

"Lunch time Mr. Stark," Steve led the way out of the gym towards the cafeteria, waving and chatting with some of the veterans on the way there.

"Since when we're you a social butterfly?" Tony chuckled and eyed Steve curiously.

"Since all of these men here are veterans and deserve respect. I've always been polite and even more so to these men because they saw some worse things than I did." He sighed and grabbed a tray and handed one to Tony. "Good afternoon Joyce,"

"Afternoon Captain, we missed you at breakfast."

"Yeah, I slept late and wasn't that hungry," He shrugged. She nodded, "What's for lunch today?"

"Macaroni and cheese with corn or peas and peaches." She smiled. Steve grinned. "Who's your friend there?" She nodded to Tony.

"She doesn't know who I am?" Tony gasped, being melodramatic.

"Joyce this is Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man." He smiled and she nodded approvingly.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Stark."

"You're a military woman aren't you?" Tony asked. Steve wanted to slap his forehead, Tony was just all kinds of problems. Did he not know what the word respect meant?

"Yes I am, what makes you say that?"

"You have this way about you, did you see combat or were you a cook?"

"I was a cook but I went with the soldiers so I saw my fair share." She sighed.

"Come on Tony, other people want food." Steve smiled at Joyce and pulled Tony out and towards his table. "Hello gentlemen," Steve sighed and sat down with his friends. "This is Tony Stark, he's going to be tagging along with me today." He sighed. They exchanged greetings and then they were silent. Steve poked at his food for a moment, contemplating his idea. He didn't want to make Tony uncomfortable but he felt like the men needed. "Should we pray for him?" The men nodded and folded their hands and hung their heads. Steve lowered his head and took a deep breath. "Dear heavenly father, we pray for our fallen brother. Please watch over him and protect him in the afterlife. He was a good man, a great friend and an amazing soldier." He took a shaky breath, he had no idea how to go on. Jacob finished the prayer and they all quietly said Amen together.

Tony sat back awkwardly. He wasn't sure what to do except just sit there quietly and wait. Steve looked up at him with could almost have been a glare, he was waiting for Tony's snide comment. He didn't have one this time though, sure he could be an asshole but he knew when it was the wrong moment.

Lunch was silent after that, except for Tony's little attempts at conversation. If he wasn't in the lab, he didn't like silence. He followed Steve to the tub where they put their dishes and smiled.

"The food was actually really good."

"Yeah, Thanks Tony, for not saying anything smart back there." Steve sighed.

"Yeah of course, I know when to bite my tongue."

"That's surprising," Steve laughed and headed out to the lobby. "So was there any other reason you came here? Besides to check on me, which I don't believe for one second."

Tony huffed, just how much of an asshole did Steve think he was?

"Well, the new tower is almost finished and I was wondering if you wanted to come back with me. We can keep each other company in the sleepless hours of the night."

"Thanks for the offer but I like it here, I'm perfectly fine with being with these people and what does Stark Tower have to do with my living arrangements?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

"It's a surprise but, are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure, plus you have all your robots to keep you company. You don't need an insomniac who can't stand cold water in your house. I'm doing just fine with my friends here."

"Don't wanna leave your little fan boy?" Tony sighed. It had been meant to be teasing but there was too much venom in his voice. He mentally slapped himself. Steve raised his eyebrow.

"Andrew is just a kid who works here, calm down."

"Sorry, it wasn't supposed to come out that way." Steve nodded slowly and eyed Tony.

"You should probably get back to your life as the billionaire, playboy, blah, blah, blah." Steve laughed.

"Okay, okay. I'll go but promise to keep in touch? We gave you that cell phone for a reason." Tony walked out of the building backwards.

"Goodbye Tony!" Steve chuckled and shook his head. He turned and headed back to his room. Why did he turn down the option to stay with Tony? "Because it would just make things more complicated, and you need to keep away other wise you'll never stop thinking like that." He shook his head and fell onto his bed. He was not going to allow himself to have feelings for Tony stark. Of all the people he could have some semblance of feelings for it just had to be _Tony! _He sighed in frustration and pulled at his hair. "Great choice Captain, just…perfect." He rolled his eyes and crawled back out of bed. He needed to beat the crap out of something to relieve stress. There was a punching bag just down stairs he could use, better that than the wall. He changed out of his pajama pants and pulled on the sweat pants before heading down to the gym.

* * *

Tony trudged down the stairs to his lab.

"Tony,"

"Not now Pepper. I need time, alone, in the lab, by myself, no distractions, do you have anything I can work on?" She shook her head and then watched him continue down the stairs.

"Is everything okay?"

"Please don't disturb me while I'm working." He sighed and was gone. He wasn't being immature or moody was he? No, he was just being normal Tony. He liked being alone in his lab, this wasn't anything to get her worried. "Jarvis, my play list please, as loud as you can without making me deaf."

"Yes sir," His thoughts were soon drowned out by the loud sounds of working on a motorcycle and his music. He kept reminding himself, only two weeks. It really wasn't that long but it seemed like an eternity.

It was another sleepless night for both heroes.

* * *

**Chapter 2. It's a tad more on the emotional side, and there's more interaction between them. The song Andrew sings is Hero Of War by Rise Against. I added in the praying moment because Steve makes reference to believing in God in the Avengers and all those men were from the 40's like he was so, I felt like it fit them. Then Tony's just there awkwardly. Okay, I'll stop rambling now. Hope you enjoyed it. **


	3. New Enemies and Old Friends

**Hey guys! I went back and edited some things in chapters one and two so please go and reread those real quick so there's no problem with this chapter. **

The week went slower for Tony than it did Steve. Thankfully Steve had enough to keep his mind busy and off of those complicated emotions and thoughts. Tony on the other hand was trapped in his own mind.

* * *

Steve sat on his bed doodling in his book humming a tune that only he knew when his phone started ringing. He reached into his jeans on the floor and fished it out, then answered it.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Rogers, I'm afraid I must tell you the Avengers need to assemble a week early. Can you be here soon?" It was Fury.

"Yeah, how urgent is it?"

"We need you to get here as soon as possible."

"Okay, I guess that's bad. I'll be there." Fury hung up after Steve said that. The hero sighed and started packing his things into the duffle bag. He made sure the room was cleaned up before he headed down stairs to the lobby. Andrew was leaning against the desk talking to Derek and Cathy.

"Oh hey Steve…wait…what's with the bag?" Andrew's eyes began to droop and the guilt set in.

"I have to go, Avengers stuff. Captain America has to go save the world again." He laughed weakly. Andrew nodded and looked to his feet. Derek smiled at Steve.

"Have you said goodbye to the others yet?" Steve shook his head. "You probably should, I can't tell you how happy you've made all of them." Derek sighed and gave a nice smile. Steve nodded in agreement. "I can call them to the meeting room," Steve nodded.

"Yeah, that'd work." Derek went over the intercom and called all of the veterans to go to the meeting room. Steve headed up and went to the center of the room and smiled at al of his friends. "Well…" He started as he noticed everyone was there. "Captain America has been called back to duty. I have to go back and hopefully save the world. If I can't, then I'll avenge it." He smiled "I can't tell you how much fun I've had here. You all, you all have a special place in my heart. I'm going to miss all of you." He gave a half smile and looked at all the faces. He looked down though; he wasn't going to cry, not now.

Steve slowly walked around and hugged the veterans and staff. The last one he stood in front of was Andrew who looked like a kicked puppy. Steve opened his arms for a hug and was held in a bone crushing hug. Well, it would've crushed him if he was still in the same shape he was in before the experiment. "Hey now, it's okay. I'll come back when I get the chance." He smiled at him and ruffled his hair. "Be good now, and take good care of these men." Andrew nodded and pat Steve on the back as he left.

He looked up at the building as he climbed back onto his bike. He would miss it, he really would. Steve wiped the few tears that escaped his eyes before starting the bike and driving off.

* * *

Tony stared up the tower smiling at the giant A. "Perfect," He sighed and turned to see Pepper thanking the construction workers and paying them. "I honestly didn't think they'd do it but they did!" He laughed.

"Yes they did, I must say it looks amazing and is perfect for all of you. I think the new Stark tower is coming along nicely as well."

"Well, I would hope you think so, you did design 100% of it." He smiled. She smiled back at him.  
"Shall we go inside?" He nodded and headed into the building.

"This floor is so boring, we should get some art or something in here to liven it up a bit." He sighed and then headed into the elevator. The floors were perfect, command center was intact, and the labs were like Disney land for Tony. As he was going through his pent house his cell phone went off.

"You have reach Tony Stark, if it's urgent tell it to me urgently."

"Mr. Stark,"  
"Ah, Fury! What can I do for you?"

"I'm needing the Avengers to assemble at S.H.I.E.L.D. Think you can be there soon?"

"Yes, yes I can. What's going on?"  
"Possible threat,"  
"Are you kidding me? It's only been a few weeks since we kicked Loki's ass!"  
"Yes I know, but it's not him this time. Actually we don't know what it is, I just need to debrief all of you so you know what we're up against incase it does come to war."  
"Alright, I'll be there soon."  
"On another note how is the tower coming?"

"It's finished." Tony smiled triumphantly. "Can I show it off at the briefing?"

"Yes you can, can you bring Banner with you?"

"Of course." With that, they hung up. Tony turned to Pepper and sighed, "I've got to go do Avenger stuff. Where's Bruce?" He spun in a circle looking for his new friend.

"I think he's down in his lab," Pepper sighed. They headed back into the elevator, punched in the security code and headed down to the labs. Sure enough, there was Bruce programming something.

"Hey Banner, Fury called and wants us to head over to S.H.I.E.L.D. something about debriefing for potential enemy." Tony shrugged like it was no big deal. Bruce nodded and closed the program down.

"Alright, shall we go then?" He walked over to them smiling. Tony nodded and turned on his heel to head back into the elevator.

"Pepper, I would like for you to head back to California. I want someone there with the company and to oversee the building of Stark Tower, it is your baby of course." He smiled. She grinned and nodded.

"Of course, would you also like me to get you the set up for this tower?"  
"Yes that would be wonderful." He smiled, "I get to present at show and tell and rub my shiny new toy in everyone's face." Tony chuckled. Bruce and Pepper both shook their heads smiling.

"But you're sharing this one with all of them,"

"That is true…but I still control the workings of the tower and Jarvis." He smirked.  
"Okay you're right there, would you also like me to finish the installing of Jarvis into the tower?" Tony nodded and led the way out to the car. He jumped over the door and slid into his seat, revving it up. Bruce walked around to Pepper's side and opened her door for her before jumping into the backseat.

Tony sped off towards his private little airport so Pepper could be off to Malibu and then he and Bruce could head off towards S.H.I.E.L.D.

* * *

Steve spun in his chair looking off into nowhere waiting for the others to arrive, as of now it was him, Clint and Natasha, and Fury. Thor would more than likely be the last one here, it did take a while for him to get from Asgard. Steve took that back as he saw the demigod walk in and take a seat. Looks like Stark would be fashionably late as always with Bruce as his tag along science side kick. Steve began to pout thinking about the possibility that Banner and Stark were a…thing. He shuddered and then corrected himself, Tony was with Pepper, He couldn't be fooling around with Banner, then again….It _was_ Tony.

"Ah, Mr. Stark so good of you to finally join us. How are you holding up Banner?" Fury sighed as the two science men took their seats. Steve watched Tony strut to his seat out of the corner of his eye.

"Are you trying to insinuate that I don't know how to take care of our little rage monster?" Stark acted offended and put his feet up on the table smirking.

"You did electrocute him in the side to see if he'd get upset." Steve sighed and gave Tony an unimpressed look.

"It was a harmless experiment. Bruce, back me up and tell these mean people that I've been taking good care of our hulk." He pat Bruce on top of the head while stifling a laugh. Bruce pushed Tony's hand away and looked at Fury.

"He's behaved himself and I haven't hulked out."

"Ha! See!" Tony clapped his hands together and smiled. Steve and the others shook their heads. Before Stark could start speaking again Fury sighed.

"We'll get to show and tell in a bit, but for now what I wanted to discuss." The others raised their eyebrows while Tony sighed with a bored look on his face. "I've gathered you all back to inform of a potential threat. We're not sure entirely what we're dealing with but we know it's not going to be a fun fight if it escalates."

"Another villain wanting to compensate for something by taking over Earth?" Tony laughed.

"Probably, if we psychologically pick at him. That's not the point though. We're monitoring it because it seems they're wanting a war."

"Aliens?" Clint asked.

"No, its people. We don't know where they're hiding out, only that they're not in North America. I was hoping it would be alright to send you out in the field Natasha, to see what you can dig up." The assassin nodded. "It's not too serious yet but it could be quickly. I need you all on your toes, ready to fight and on your guard." Fury looked between all of them before looking back at Tony. "That's all I have to say for now. Tony has something he'd like to share with the class." He sighed and stepped aside. Tony stood up and pulled up the cyber model of the building.

"Gentlemen and Lady, may I present to you Avenger Tower. It is completed with floors for all of you. There is a training center, communications and a very large lab for Bruce and I. I decided when things are serious like now, all of us need a place to stay so we're all together and yes we could all stay here but let's face it…most uncomfortable beds ever." He sighed. The others nodded in agreement, except for Clint and Natasha, they'd gotten used to the cots over the years. "So, who's willing to move in?" All of the Avengers raised their hands.

"I do agree that we will all need a place where we can be together and be comfortable." Thor sighed.

"Alright, well that's all I've got. Is that all Fury?" Tony swiveled around to look at Nick.

"One more thing before you all go," He sighed and waited for Tony to sit down. "You can come out now," Fury looked to the door they had all entered and shot up out of their seats wide eyed and jaw's hanging open. Standing in front of them was Phil Coulson.

"Son of a bitch," Tony gasped. Phil smiled.

"You just did that so we would all work together didn't you?" Bruce sighed and looked between the agent and director. They both nodded.

"You all needed a little push." Coulson sighed and shrugged.

"That's not an unusual method for SHIELD to use." Natasha sighed, Clint nodded in agreement.

"So you two just willing go along with all the lying?" Tony asked and shook his head as they nodded. "You're crazy." He muttered. "It is good to see you back with the living buddy," He smiled at Coulson who smiled back.

Phil stumbled back a bit when Steve pulled him into a tight hug. "Cap'n, can't breathe." He laughed and was let go. Steve chuckled and gripped his shoulders tight before awkwardly fumbling with his pockets.

"I um…these are for you," In his hands were the blood vintage cards, the only difference was they were all signed. Phil gasped and his eyes shined like a little kids.

"Thank you, I um, have something for you two. Follow me if you will." Coulson lead Steve out and that was the sign the meeting was dismissed.

* * *

Steve followed Coulson to an office like room, "Please, sit." Coulson smiled and sat down behind a desk.

"What's on your mind Phil?" Steve sighed and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.

"I have some news for you, I'm not sure how you'll take this but you deserve to know."

"What Coulson?" He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side like a curious little puppy.

* * *

Tony sighed and headed out to his car but paused looking back at the building. He was really hoping he'd get to talk to Cap more but Steve seemed to be willing to move into Avenger Tower so he'd see him soon enough. He continued on his way, Bruce following him silently and they were gone.

* * *

Steve had his face to his knees, arms wrapped around his legs sobbing while Coulson sat next to him rubbing his back, trying to calm the super soldier. After a few minutes he straightened up and looked Coulson in the eye.

"She's alive?" He whimpered out. Phil nodded smiling gently. Steve was shaking, no, trembling uncontrollably. The emotions that shot through him were too much to bare.

"I went and spoke with her a week ago and explained everything. She's been writing to me, very curious as to how you are doing. She didn't want me to tell you about her though."

"Why?" Steve looked like he'd been kicked over and over again.

"She doesn't want you to see her like she is, she wants you to remember her as she was when you left." He sighed. Steve shook his head.

"No, I want to see her. Can I?"

"Yes, I can call her right now if you'd like." He went around and picked up his phone dialing a number and waiting for a few minutes. Steve could hear a frail voice on the other line. "Hello Peggy, it's Phil. I'm doing well thank you. If you have a moment I'd like to tell you something. I just spoke with Steve and don't hurt me but I told him and he's very eager to come visit you. If it's not too much trouble do you think we could fly in and see you? Excellent, see you soon. Bye." He smiled and hung up the phone. "Grab your bag Captain, we're going to England."

* * *

**Chapter 3 everyone! I saw these amazing and emotional ideas that people had about Peggy that I just...I couldn't help myself! I hope you enjoyed this rather short chapter. **


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